[Patent document 1] JP-2004-252760 A
In vehicles such as a recent automobile, there is existing a manipulation input apparatus in which several selection regions (command switches) drawn on a display screen of a display device arranged in front of a driver are selected by a manipulation applied to a remote manipulation device arranged separately from the display device, thereby enabling a determination input (see Patent document 1). According to such a manipulation input apparatus, for example, for a driver to perform a touch typing without seeing switches or the like, the remote manipulation section may be arranged preferably in a position within reach of the hand of the driver such as a side of the driver's seat. It is thereby possible for the driver to manipulate while maintaining a posture for driving operation, thus providing an advantage in usability. In addition, in such a manipulation input apparatus, selection and determination made to the selection region in a display window enables a window switchover to transfer into a lower layer window. The repetitive switchover manipulation enables an arrival to a target window, in which an intended manipulation is executed.
However, in the above vehicular manipulation input apparatus, to improve the manipulability, the following request exits. That is, when the switchover to transfer into a lower layer window in a hierarchy structure is executed by the manipulation of selection and determination from several manipulation regions, a user would like to confirm later whether the manipulation is the same as the manipulator's intention.
For example, it is not so easy for a driver under a driving operation to continue seeing a display screen for a long time. There may be a case that a relatively long time elapses from when a first manipulation is made and to when a subsequent manipulation is then made. In such a case, the driver may forget what kind of manipulation was made in the previous first manipulation. Further, the driver may miss which layer of the hierarchy structure the present display window belongs to. In addition, a previous manipulation may be a mis-manipulation. When the driver thereafter sees a display window which has appeared after the manipulation, the driver may be not clear anymore why the intended display window is not displayed. In this case, the driver executes manipulations to return to the top menu window to resume hierarchical switchover manipulation from the start, posing a very troublesome.